Estudos da dinâmica da temperatura intra-urbana: Petropolis, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil

Estudios relacionados con las variaciones en la temperatura intra-urbana, sus causas y efectos son cada vez más el objeto de interés dada la necesidad de abordar las cuestiones relacionadas con el cambio climático. El objetivo principal de esta propuesta es presentar los resultados de la investigación sobre las diferencias en el microclima en varios lugares del centro histórico de Petrópolis, y más tarde, en futuras investigaciones, proponer estrategias de intervención en la morfología urbana que pueden conducir a mejoras en el confort ambiental. Para esta colección de datos de investigación se llevó a cabo mediante la aplicación del método de transectos móviles, que cubre toda la zona en un corto período de tiempo. Los principales resultados fueron el análisis de los mapas de temperatura de aire generada asociados con índice de confort UTCI. Además, se observó que los lugares con temperaturas más altas tienen mayor área de revestimiento artificial y menor capa de vegetación.Studies related to variations in the intra-urban temperature, its causes and effects are increasingly the object of interest given the need to address issues related to climate change. The main objective of this proposal is to study, in general, differences in microclimate in various locations in the historic center of Petropolis, and later, in future research, propose intervention strategies in urban morphology that can lead to improvements in comfort environmental. Therefore, a systematic collection of data was performed by applying the mobile transects method, covering the entire area in a short period of time. The main results were the generation of air temperature maps associated with UTCI comfort index. It was also noted that places with higher temperatures have more artificial coating area and and less vegetated area.Tema 5: Arquitectura ambientalmente consciente.Facultad de Arquitectura y Urbanism

Estudos da dinâmica da temperatura intra-urbana: Petropolis, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil

Estudios relacionados con las variaciones en la temperatura intra-urbana, sus causas y efectos son cada vez más el objeto de interés dada la necesidad de abordar las cuestiones relacionadas con el cambio climático. El objetivo principal de esta propuesta es presentar los resultados de la investigación sobre las diferencias en el microclima en varios lugares del centro histórico de Petrópolis, y más tarde, en futuras investigaciones, proponer estrategias de intervención en la morfología urbana que pueden conducir a mejoras en el confort ambiental. Para esta colección de datos de investigación se llevó a cabo mediante la aplicación del método de transectos móviles, que cubre toda la zona en un corto período de tiempo. Los principales resultados fueron el análisis de los mapas de temperatura de aire generada asociados con índice de confort UTCI. Además, se observó que los lugares con temperaturas más altas tienen mayor área de revestimiento artificial y menor capa de vegetación.Studies related to variations in the intra-urban temperature, its causes and effects are increasingly the object of interest given the need to address issues related to climate change. The main objective of this proposal is to study, in general, differences in microclimate in various locations in the historic center of Petropolis, and later, in future research, propose intervention strategies in urban morphology that can lead to improvements in comfort environmental. Therefore, a systematic collection of data was performed by applying the mobile transects method, covering the entire area in a short period of time. The main results were the generation of air temperature maps associated with UTCI comfort index. It was also noted that places with higher temperatures have more artificial coating area and and less vegetated area.Tema 5: Arquitectura ambientalmente consciente.Facultad de Arquitectura y Urbanism

Estudos da dinâmica da temperatura intra-urbana: Petropolis, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil

Estudios relacionados con las variaciones en la temperatura intra-urbana, sus causas y efectos son cada vez más el objeto de interés dada la necesidad de abordar las cuestiones relacionadas con el cambio climático. El objetivo principal de esta propuesta es presentar los resultados de la investigación sobre las diferencias en el microclima en varios lugares del centro histórico de Petrópolis, y más tarde, en futuras investigaciones, proponer estrategias de intervención en la morfología urbana que pueden conducir a mejoras en el confort ambiental. Para esta colección de datos de investigación se llevó a cabo mediante la aplicación del método de transectos móviles, que cubre toda la zona en un corto período de tiempo. Los principales resultados fueron el análisis de los mapas de temperatura de aire generada asociados con índice de confort UTCI. Además, se observó que los lugares con temperaturas más altas tienen mayor área de revestimiento artificial y menor capa de vegetación.Studies related to variations in the intra-urban temperature, its causes and effects are increasingly the object of interest given the need to address issues related to climate change. The main objective of this proposal is to study, in general, differences in microclimate in various locations in the historic center of Petropolis, and later, in future research, propose intervention strategies in urban morphology that can lead to improvements in comfort environmental. Therefore, a systematic collection of data was performed by applying the mobile transects method, covering the entire area in a short period of time. The main results were the generation of air temperature maps associated with UTCI comfort index. It was also noted that places with higher temperatures have more artificial coating area and and less vegetated area.Tema 5: Arquitectura ambientalmente consciente.Facultad de Arquitectura y Urbanism

Complement activation in the plasma and placentas of women with different subsets of antiphospholipid syndrome

Problem: As antiphospholipid antibody\u2010positive women with adverse pregnancy outcomes have higher plasma complement activation product levels, and the placentas of women with antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) exhibit C4d complement component deposition, complement activation involvement has been hypothesized in APS pregnancy complications. Method of study: Plasma levels of C5a and C5b\u20109 complement components of 43 APS non\u2010pregnant patients and 17 pregnant APS women were measured using enzyme\u2010 linked immunosorbent assay. The results were compared with those of 16 healthy non\u2010pregnant women and eight healthy pregnant women, respectively. Placenta samples of five APS patients at high risk of pregnancy complications and of five healthy controls were subjected to immunoblotting analysis with specific antibodies to C5b\u20109 and CD46, CD55, CD59 complement regulators. Results: The mean plasma C5a and C5b\u20109 levels were significantly higher in the nonpregnant APS patients with previous thrombosis \ub1 pregnancy morbidity (P = .0001 and P = .0034, respectively) and in the pregnant APS women with adverse outcomes (P = .0093 for both). Similarly, C5b\u20109 amounts were significantly higher in the adverse pregnancy outcome placenta (P = .0115) than in those associated to a favorable outcome. The mean CD46, CD55 and CD59 amounts were, instead, lower, although not always significantly, in the placentas of all the high\u2010risk APS women with respect to the control placentas. Conclusion: Data analysis demonstrated that there was significant complement activation in the more severe subset of APS patients and in only the adverse pregnancy outcome APS women. Further studies will clarify whether the lower CD46, CD55, and CD59 expressions in the APS placentas are limited to only high\u2010risk APS patients

Optical properties of aerosol particles over the Amazon rain forest: From background to biomass burning conditions

Atmospheric aerosols over the Amazon rainforest are strongly influenced by biomass burning activities in the southern regions of the Amazon Basin between July and October. This implies a complete change of the physical and chemical aerosol properties from the wet season, which is dominated by Primary Biological Aerosol Particles (PBAP) and biogenic secondary organic aerosols. Biomass burning emissions are highly loaded with light-absorbing aerosols, like black and brown carbon (BC and BrC, respectively). The latter one consists of a fraction of organic carbon that is able to absorb visible radiation (Andreae and Gelencs\ue9r, 2006). BrC is a strong absorber at near-UV to UV wavelengths. Therefore, light absorption by this component is wavelength dependent. This wavelength dependency, expressed as the absorption \uc5ngstr\uf6m exponent (AAE), has been used as a parameter to estimate the influence of biomass burning aerosols to total aerosol light absorption. However, the biogenic BrC contribution remains to be studied and could be significant under pristine conditions. The measurements presented here were carried out at the Amazon Tall Tower Observatory (ATTO), located 150 km NE of the city of Manaus, in the Uatum\ue3 Sustainable Development Reserve in Amazonas State, Brazil. The aerosol inlet (60 m high, 2.5 cm diameter) is installed on an 81-m triangular mast. The measurement period, from June to September 2014, includes the wetto- dry transition season (June-July) and part of the dry season (August and beginning of September). The optical properties were measured online by different instruments: 3-wavelengths nephelometer, Multi-Angle Absorption Photometer (MAAP), Single Particle Soot Photometer (SP2) and a 7-wavelength Aethalometer. Additionally, MAAP filter samples were analyzed by the Multi-Wavelength Absorbance Analyzer (MWAA) (Massab\uf2 et al, 2013), as well as levoglucosan analysis was carried out for filters collected between 18-22 August 2014. The average light absorption coefficient at 637 nm was 1.0 \ub1 0.6 Mm-1 and 5.5 \ub1 3.9 Mm-1, during the wet-to-dry transition and the dry season, respectively. Here we concentrate on measurements during 18-22 August 2014 (Figure 1) when a high absorption coefficient was measured at 637 nm, averaging 10 \ub1 3 Mm-1. The AAE calculated from MWAA measurements increased from less than 1.0 to values higher than 1.4, indicating the presence of BrC aerosol particles. This period is characterized by a long-range transport of biomass burning aerosol (confirmed by backward trajectory analysis). Levoglucosan analysis reveals significantly increased concentration but is still relatively low compared to measurements close to the source (Graham et al, 2002). Nevertheless, AAE and levoglucosan concentration show a significant correlation (r\ub2 > 0.9)

Hepcidin levels and their determinants in different types of myelodysplastic syndromes

Iron overload may represent an additional clinical problem in patients with Myelodysplastic Syndromes (MDS), with recent data suggesting prognostic implications. Beyond red blood cells transfusions, dysregulation of hepcidin, the key iron hormone, may play a role, but studies until now have been hampered by technical problems. Using a recently validated assay, we measured serum hepcidin in 113 patients with different MDS subtypes. Mean hepcidin levels were consistently heterogeneous across different MDS subtypes, with the lowest levels in refractory anemia with ringed sideroblasts (RARS, 1.43 nM) and the highest in refractory anemia with excess blasts (RAEB, 11.3 nM) or in chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML, 10.04 nM) (P\u200a=\u200a0.003 by ANOVA). MDS subtypes remained significant predictors of hepcidin in multivariate analyses adjusted for ferritin and transfusion history. Consistently with current knowledge on hepcidin action/regulation, RARS patients had the highest levels of toxic non-transferrin-bound-iron, while RAEB and CMML patients had substantial elevation of C-Reactive Protein as compared to other MDS subtypes, and showed lost of homeostatic regulation by iron. Growth differentiation factor 15 did not appear as a primary hepcidin regulator in this series. If confirmed, these results may help to calibrate future treatments with chelating agents and/or hepcidin modulators in MDS patient

Study protocol of effectiveness of a biopsychosocial multidisciplinary intervention in the evolution of non-speficic sub-acute low back pain in the working population : cluster randomised trial

Background: Non-specific low back pain is a common cause for consultation with the general practitioner, generating increased health and social costs. This study will analyse the effectiveness of a multidisciplinary intervention to reduce disability, severity of pain, anxiety and depression, to improve quality of life and to reduce the incidence of chronic low back pain in the working population with non-specific low back pain, compared to usual clinical care. Methods/Design: A Cluster randomised clinical trial will be conducted in 38 Primary Health Care Centres located in Barcelona, Spain and its surrounding areas. The centres are randomly allocated to the multidisciplinary intervention or to usual clinical care. Patients between 18 and 65 years old (n = 932; 466 per arm) and with a diagnostic of a non-specific sub-acute low back pain are included. Patients in the intervention group are receiving the recommendations of clinical practice guidelines, in addition to a biopsychosocial multidisciplinary intervention consisting of group educational sessions lasting a total of 10 hours. The main outcome is change in the score in the Roland Morris disability questionnaire at three months after onset of pain. Other outcomes are severity of pain, quality of life, duration of current non-specific low back pain episode, work sick leave and duration, Fear Avoidance Beliefs and Goldberg Questionnaires. Outcomes will be assessed at baseline, 3, 6 and 12 months. Analysis will be by intention to treat. The intervention effect will be assessed through the standard error of measurement and the effect-size. Responsiveness of each scale will be evaluated by standardised response mean and receiver-operating characteristic method. Recovery according to the patient will be used as an external criterion. A multilevel regression will be performed on repeated measures. The time until the current episode of low back pain takes to subside will be analysed by Cox regression. Discussion: We hope to provide evidence of the effectiveness of the proposed biopsychosocial multidisciplinary intervention in avoiding the chronification of low back pain, and to reduce the duration of non-specific low back pain episodes. If the intervention is effective, it could be applied to Primary Health Care Centres

Impact of gastrointestinal side effects on patients’ reported quality of life trajectories after radiotherapy for prostate cancer: Data from the prospective, observational pros-it CNR study

Radiotherapy (RT) represents an important therapeutic option for the treatment of localized prostate cancer. The aim of the current study is to examine trajectories in patients’ reported quality of life (QoL) aspects related to bowel function and bother, considering data from the PROState cancer monitoring in ITaly from the National Research Council (Pros-IT CNR) study, analyzed with growth mixture models. Data for patients who underwent RT, either associated or not associated with androgen deprivation therapy, were considered. QoL outcomes were assessed over a 2-year period from the diagnosis, using the Italian version of the University of California Los Angeles-Prostate Cancer Index (Italian-UCLA-PCI). Three trajectories were identified for the bowel function; having three or more comorbidities and the use of 3D-CRT technique for RT were associated with the worst trajectory (OR = 3.80, 95% CI 2.04–7.08; OR = 2.17, 95% CI 1.22–3.87, respectively). Two trajectories were identified for the bowel bother scores; diabetes and the non-Image guided RT method were associated with being in the worst bowel bother trajectory group (OR = 1.69, 95% CI 1.06–2.67; OR = 2.57, 95% CI 1.70–3.86, respectively). The findings from this study suggest that the absence of comorbidities and the use of intensity modulated RT techniques with image guidance are related with a better tolerance to RT in terms of bowel side effects

Complicated intra-abdominal infections worldwide: the definitive data of the CIAOW Study.

The CIAOW study (Complicated intra-abdominal infections worldwide observational study) is a multicenter observational study underwent in 68 medical institutions worldwide during a six-month study period (October 2012-March 2013). The study included patients older than 18 years undergoing surgery or interventional drainage to address complicated intra-abdominal infections (IAIs).1898 patients with a mean age of 51.6 years (range 18-99) were enrolled in the study. 777 patients (41%) were women and 1,121 (59%) were men. Among these patients, 1,645 (86.7%) were affected by community-acquired IAIs while the remaining 253 (13.3%) suffered from healthcare-associated infections. Intraperitoneal specimens were collected from 1,190 (62.7%) of the enrolled patients.827 patients (43.6%) were affected by generalized peritonitis while 1071 (56.4%) suffered from localized peritonitis or abscesses.The overall mortality rate was 10.5% (199/1898).According to stepwise multivariate analysis (PR = 0.005 and PE = 0.001), several criteria were found to be independent variables predictive of mortality, including patient age (OR = 1.1; 95%CI = 1.0-1.1; p < 0.0001), the presence of small bowel perforation (OR = 2.8; 95%CI = 1.5-5.3; p < 0.0001), a delayed initial intervention (a delay exceeding 24 hours) (OR = 1.8; 95%CI = 1.5-3.7; p < 0.0001), ICU admission (OR = 5.9; 95%CI = 3.6-9.5; p < 0.0001) and patient immunosuppression (OR = 3.8; 95%CI = 2.1-6.7; p < 0.0001). © 2014 Sartelli et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd